Common Ground
by Madman007
Summary: The Leverage team heads to Miami on a job for a client who was fired for knowing about a secret behind the CEO. The team have a hard time finding out the secret until they run into a certain man who used to be a spy.
1. Chapter 1

**Common Ground**

**A Leverage / Burn Notice crossover**

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><p>Part 1<p>

Alex Hardison came through the door of the suite carrying his laptop and equipment. He came in and set everything down and breathed in heavily. "Ahh, cool air!"

Following him was the pro grifter on their team, Sophie Devereaux. She spoke in her main English accent. "Oh, Hardison, you've been in the heat before."

"Not this kind of heat. Miami in the summer? We've been here all of forty-five minutes and I'm sweating like Porky Pig. I feel the need for a shower already."

"Not yet," said the voice behind them coming in. This was the mastermind of the crew, Nathan Ford. When he spoke, the team listened. Mostly. He addressed Hardison. "You have to set up those GPS coordinates. Find out where Degato is and see where he's going. Remember we don't have audio on him. Don't want to waste Parker's talents in the airport earlier."

Hardison said while he was hooking his laptop to the 32-inch flat screen that came with the suite, "Heh, Parker could plant a cam on the President without the Secret Service even knowing." Once he was hooked in, he tapped keys on his computer. As he did, the blonde thief named Parker came in with her backpack of goodies.

She cheered, "Hey, there's a job. Not much of a challenge, the Secret Service. Their tactics ain't a secret." She set her backpack down, winded. "Wow. How hot is it? It's hot! Damn hot!"

Hardison shook his head as he typed. "You think I can't spot a _Good Morning, Vietnam_ quote, baby?"

"Maybe." She went behind him to wrap her arms around his waist. "But it is hot. And did I hear someone say they needed a shower? Cuz, I'd help you there if you needed it." Hardison couldn't help but smile deviously.

Nate interrupted their moment. "Guys! We have a man out there in the field waiting. Everyone got their ears on?" Nate and the others each placed their elaborate audio devices into their ears that allowed them to hear and talk to one another on a job. Nate then called out, "Eliot, you copy?"

The hitter of the crew was not in the room but he sounded as if her were. "Copy. I'm in position behind Degato. Is Hardison still complaining about the heat?"

"Hey, I'm not used to this humidity. Do you know what is used to it? Germs!"

"You know who doesn't care? Me," answered Eliot.

"Sorry, dude, I wasn't stationed in the Mojave Desert or somewhere."

They all could almost feel Eliot Spencer's rage coming through his voice. "It was the Maranjab Desert. Miami has nothing on getting pinned down in a barracks made of sand with no water at 130 degrees. You wouldn't last a minute, Hardison."

Sophie flopped on the sofa in front of the TV and said impatiently, "Can we get on with it? Marcy said something about a meeting here at the dog track today."

"Right. Thank you, Sophie," said Nate. "Hardison, do we have a visual on the cam?"

"Yes, we do. Thanks to the plant of that cam on Degato's lapel by the lovely Parker." He typed more keys and an image appeared on the TV of the insides of a dog track in Miami. It was a first person point of view. Wherever Degato went, the team saw. "Ok, ladies and tourists, welcome to the Biscayne Greyhound Park. One of many liquid assets of CEO Hector Degato. This park is the only one of his proceeds that he can hide through offshore accounts."

Sophie reiterated, "That's because his casinos are state funded."

Nate agreed. "Right. He can't funnel the profits from them without the Gaming Commission of Florida knowing. Because he has total ownership of this track, he can send that money just about anywhere and hide it. It's a classic case of independent assets."

Hardison checked. "Yeah, everything on this park is in his name alone. No partners. Ownership, land permits, even his gambling license. Degato wants this puppy all his own."

Parker chuckled. "Puppy greyhounds. Then when they get older they race!"

Nate ignored Parker and asked Hardison, "You still can't find where Degato is channeling that money from here?"

"No, man. It's strange. I've looked through all of his banks and I can't find any of his profits on this place. Makes me want to cry. It's painful."

"No Swiss accounts?" asked Nate.

Hardison gave Nate a look of disdain. "Speaking of painful, after all these years and you think I can't trace assets to a Swiss account? Nate, you wound me."

"Oh, I know you can. I'm just wondering why Degato is taking such extra precaution in hiding these profits."

Sophie offered, "If he's hiding the profits, then he's hiding the spending too."

"Good point," Nate said. "So, what is Degato buying that he doesn't want the public to know about."

"Could be anything," said Sophie. "Art. Diamonds."

"First editions of _The Avengers_ comics."

"Women's shoes." said Parker. All in the room gave Parker a look. "Hey, the head of the FBI once wore women's clothes and no one knew. Just sayin'"

"What about real estate?" said Sophie.

Eliot answered in their ears, "No, real estate in Miami has been a joke ever since Hurricane Andrew. Too cheap for Degato."

"I agree," Nate said.

Hardison wondered, "Drugs? Cuz, that would play into a Miami stereotype."

Parker asked too cheerily, "Hey, can our cover names be Crockett and Tubbs? That would be cool!"

As usual, Nate ignored Parker and said, "No, can't be drugs. Too many cartels in Miami for Degato to deal with."

Sophie said, "Yes, I can't see him dealing with them. He has no love of art, as Marcy said. He has no pictures of anyone on his desk. Hasn't been married or dated in a long time. Degato is a loner. Only wants control on his own terms."

Eliot offered, "A gambling debt?"

Nate replied, "No, if he was running up markers he would be walking with a limp by now from one of the collectors."

Sophie said, "Maybe this meeting of his will shed some light."

Nate glanced at his watch. "Right, Marcy said it was at 4:30. That's in five minutes." He looked at the image on the screen. "Eliot, where is Degato? All we can see is something white."

"Yeah, he stepped into the bathroom just now. Didn't want to call it to your attention for obvious reasons."

The team in the room suddenly looked away from the screen.

Parker stated, "It's good thing we have no audio."

Nate brought them back. "All right, moving on. Eliot, keep on him. I want to know who is at that meeting."

After Eliot acknowledged, the team waited as they watched the images on the screen. Hardison took that moment to open the orange soda he bought at the airport for five dollars. Meanwhile, the mark, Degato, greeted many of his patrons at the track, encouraging them to bet more. The middle-aged man, though, did not go back to his office as the team anticipated. Instead, he went down the elevator into the parking garage. This section of the parking lot was secluded with very small amount of light coming from outside. The cam showed that Degato turned in every direction once he reached his desired floor. That meant that Eliot was further behind.

Once Degato was satisfied that no one was following him, he proceeded to an even darker area. This made Hardison a little frustrated. "Hmm, too dark. I wish I could put night vision on those cams."

"Lens would be too small," said Eliot in their heads.

Nate perked up. "Eliot, are you near Degato?"

Eliot stated in an even softer voice than normal, "I'm as close as I can be without detection. About 40 yards. Any closer and they'll see me."

"They?" asked Parker as she squinted at the screen.

"Yeah, there's two men he's meeting with."

Nate watched the screen and then said, "Yes, now we see them."

Hardison noted, "I'm adjusting the exposure. There. Much better."

"Not too many business meetings conducted down here," Parker said.

Sophie replied, "That depends on the business."

Nate asked, "Eliot, are you close enough for an ID?"

"Not a positive one. The first man is 5'9. Olive skin. Dressed in black Armani with Gucci tie. I can see an outline of a pistol at his waist but can't ID it. Best guess, he's Israeli. The other guy is Caucasian. About 6 foot. Tan coat. Grey slacks. Not high end. Hardison, can you get anything on face recognition yet?"

"It's working now." After a few moments of his program working, Hardison said, dumbfounded, "And...nothing. Huh? Nothing on either men. Man, this program compiles file databases from the FBI, CIA, and Interpol. Still nothing. Only way that happens is..."

"If the men paid high money to be kept out of those databases," Nate finished.

Hardison said, "They're government ghosts, then?"

"Maybe," Sophia said. "But which government?"

Nate stated, "I can guess the Israeli's. The other one could be any of them."

Parker was watching the screen when she announced, "Looks like they're arguing. Eliot, are any of them raising their voices?"

"As a matter of fact, the Israeli is."

Parker replied, "They're arguing on a price."

Sophie sounded impressed. "Nice deduction, Parker."

"Yeah, but the price for what?" asked Nate, mostly to himself.

Suddenly, the Israeli pulled out his gun from his waist and pointed it at Degato.

"Whoa, didn't expect that," cried Hardison.

Nate said, "I did. Eliot, can you see the gun?"

"I'm getting closer. Yeah, I see it. A Jericho 941. Complete with combat grips. Typical Israeli pistol. I'm guessing he's ex-Mossad."

"Which explains the no facial recognition," Nate said. "And the third man is the distributor. Add those two up and what do you got?"

"Arms dealers," said Parker.

Hardison questioned, "They don't have any supplies here."

Eliot snapped, "They're not dealing here, you geek. Too public. This meeting is for negotiation. With the Mossad the artillery is usually top of the line assault rifles. Norinco 56's most likely. And the Israeli didn't like the price."

Nate noted, "Looks like the distributor is smoothing things over."

"Brave man," said Eliot. Then his voice sounded like recognition. "Wait a minute. Guys, I know who the distributor is. And I think he's in cover."

"Cover? As in he's conning him?" cried Sophie.

"Either the Israeli or Degato. All I know is he is no distributor of arms."

Nate asked, "Eliot, how do you know this?"

Eliot replied, "Because he used to be a spy."

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><p>Part 2 coming soon.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Common Ground

Chapter 2

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><p>Eliot could hear Nate's question about how he knew one of the men meeting with Degato had once been a spy. He just didn't answer it. Not because he didn't want to. Because there was enough silence in between his revelation and Nate's question. Then he could hear it.<p>

A faint pulse.

It was an unmistakable sound to the trained ear. He looked out over the top of a parked car to see the three men still arguing. The Israeli still had his Jericho pointed at Degato while the other man was trying to calm the Israeli down. He finally put his gun down and away on his waist. When he turned, Eliot could see it. An ear plug in his ear. It wasn't nearly as advanced as Hardison's ear plugs. But they were effective. That meant he could hear the pulse as well. Or worse, the Israeli may be the _source_ of the pulse.

Eliot called out to his team, quietly. "Guys, they're not arguing on price. The Israeli has ears to his security."

Hardison asked, "They have ear buds?"

"Yep, and they have a scrambler."

Hardison sounded offended, as he always did when his genius was scarred. "Oh, no, no, no. If you're saying what I think you're mistaken on, our ear buds work on a whole different frequency to be scrambled."

Eliot replied, "Not if you have a high military grade scrambler. And that includes Mossad. They can't hear us, but they know someone else is listening. I'm willing to bet that's why they're arguing."

Nate said, "That's why he threatened Degato. He thought he betrayed him. That may come in handy."

Eliot said, "Look, don't get offended, Hardison, but I think we should go radio silent for the time being. If they have simplex or duplex signal detectors, and depending on the wavelength and strength of those detectors, they could pinpoint our positions. Namely the nearest signal. Me!"

It took a few moments of silence until Nate said, "I agree. Ok, Hardison, shut down our ears for now. We'll work up some covers and a plan from here. Eliot, what are you going to do?"

"Looks like they're about to break up. I'm going to track the mystery man and get a positive ID."

Nate noted to Eliot, "You never answered my question. How do you know he used to be a spy?"

"Not now, Nate. Especially on air. If this guy is who I think, it's not a name we want to go public."

Sophie called out, "Be careful, Eliot."

"Always am." Eliot could hear the audio shutting off.

Eliot Spencer was used to the unexpected. It was embedded in his instincts to expect the unexpected. Eliot wanted to follow the Israeli but he had to identify the mysterious ex-spy first. Since all three men left on their own paths, Eliot figured they settled on a price and a place of delivery and exchange. He waited until the Israeli and Degato were out of sight before he started following the third man. Following someone wasn't just about chasing them where they were going. It was about anticipating where they are going to be. Eliot knew the man wouldn't have his car in the parking lot. Too much attention.

Eliot moved silently through the parked cars and reached the stairwell opposite of the one that the man took. On the first floor, he jumped over the concrete wall that barricaded the parking lot and he ended up in a back alley. There were tall bushes lining a small access road where Eliot crouched to hide. He had an excellent view of the parking lot exit. He heard tires screeching and he peeked through the bushes to see a gray Mercedes exiting the parking lot. He spotted the Israeli at the drivers seat with another olive-skinned man. It definitely was his security and not the third man. Eliot scanned the area opposite of the parking lot and saw only one car. A sweet black Dodge Charger. He was about to rise to get a better look when he heard it.

The unmistakable click of a Heckler & Koch USP. Eliot measured the sound of the click at about a meter away directly behind him. The man knew not to point his gun too close. Then the man spoke.

"Stop there. Why are you following me?"

"I was just interested in muscle cars. Nice Dodge Charger. '73 or '74?"

"Stand up. Good. Now turn around." As Eliot did so, the man sighed in recognition and then chuckled. "Wow. Didn't I teach you to keep your distance when you're tailing someone, Spencer?"

Now that Eliot was facing him, he was closer to the outreached HK. Eliot took that moment to grab the gun with lightening speed and swing his elbow into the man's head. The man was faster and he blocked Eliot's attempt as his gun fell to the grass. The fight then began as each man threw blows at each other but were all blocked. Finally, Eliot landed a blow to the man's chest and he was knocked to the ground. The man shot up again as he saw Eliot coming and instantly got into a defensive stance. He then tried a roundhouse kick at Eliot, but Eliot was prepared. He caught the man's leg in mid-air and twisted it. The man yelped in pain as Eliot flipped his leg up so he would land on the ground again with a thump. Eliot then pinned the man down with his knee to the man's neck.

Eliot cried out to him, "Didn't I always tell you I hate guns pointed in my face, Westen?" Elliot lifted his knee off of Westen's neck and offered his hand so that the man could stand up.

After he choked from the lack of breathing, Westen said, "As I live and breathe. Eliot Spencer. I see you're still a force to be reckoned with."

"I mellowed out a bit. And Michael Westen. This is the last place I'd expect to find a burned spy. How did you end up in Miami?"

"By chance." Michael bent to pick up his gun off the ground and stuck it in his waist. He then looked at Eliot. "And the million dollar question is what are _you_ doing in Miami? An even better question is why were you following me? I thought you dropped off the grid, last I heard."

"In a way I did. Got a new crew."

"Special Ops?"

"No. I don't do that anymore."

"But you're involved with arms dealers, like our mutual friend, Degato."

"Actually, my crew was following Degato for a client. We didn't know what he was into besides casinos and this place. He hides his money well."

"One of his many talents."

"Another question is why are you hanging out with an ex-Mossad agent?"

Michael smiled wide, showing his white teeth. "You got that just from the Jericho? Nice deduction."

"That and his reaction to the wave interference."

Michael looked as though he solved a puzzle. "_That's_ what spooked Azir."

"Azir? Not Faruq Azir?"

"One and the same. I'm just shadowing him being a distributor."

"What can you gain with him? Isn't he just a typical renegade, out of work since 9/11 ex-Mossad?"

"Nothing but pain. I was actually interested in Degato. I'm working with Azir just to get some Intel from the slime CEO. Degato's not afraid of getting his hands dirty. He may be involved with someone more dangerous. Ever hear of a covert-op head named Vaughn?"

"Name sounds familiar. By head, you mean management. And that means freelance."

Michael chuckled. "Freelance. Good word. He has his own private army. I was witness to one of his takedowns in the jungle."

"Which jungle?"

"Gregory Hart. You know which one."

"Huge guns runner. My god, Vaughn took down Hart?"

"The drone did. Can't prove Vaughn was involved. I think Degato has done work for Hart before and may have files related to Vaughn. I know Aziz has had dealings with Hart, too, but I don't think he can lead me to Vaughn like Degato can."

"Wow, this is heavier than we thought."

"What, too much for your crew?"

"Westen, my crew involves a thief, a hacker, a grifter, and a mastermind. We're not exactly in it for the money."

Westen laughed. "The Robin Hood con team. I love it. I heard about it through Sam, but I didn't know who was involved."

"Sam? Sam Axe? You still hanging around that guy? Has his liver given up on him yet?"

"Not until there's a Mojito shortage." Michael's cell phone went off and he answered it. "Fi?" He gave an eye roll. "Mom. Yes. Is Fi there with you? No, just tell her I'll be over as soon as I can. My...meeting was shortened. Ok. All right. Yes, I'll fix your air conditioning. When I can. Gotta go." He hung up and looked at Eliot and smiled wide.

"Your mom is part of your crew?"

"Long story. Look, Spencer, I don't have too much more time to reminisce. Seems we're working Degato at opposite ends. Does your team have a con in mind?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure we can up with something tonight."

"OK, I know Degato keeps the high intelligence files in a safe behind a panel on his desk. He doesn't keep it on his mainframe computer for obvious reasons."

"What kind of safe?"

"Oyster series, biometric."

Eliot chuckled. "Child's play for Parker."

"_You_ have Parker? Now that's a crew."

"At least I don't have my mom."

"Hey, we could do worse. Where's your crew's base?"

"Four Seasons. Suite."

"Nice. Too obvious. There's a restaurant near there. Corner of Coral Way and Brickell. Our delivery with Degato isn't until 1600. We'll meet in the morning. All of us. Well, almost all of us. I can bring Fi, but I think Sam will be busy with his latest female conquest by then. What do you say, Spencer? Like old times?"

"You're actually going to deliver Norinco 56's to Degato?"

"Good guess. And some Stingers for the full party. And I know what you're thinking. If Azir doesn't deliver then Degato can't bring the artillery to Vaughn. The man has my ass in a sling."

"I get it. So, we can't interfere with the delivery. We help you in getting these files and you help us with our con?"

"Not directly. I'm the one _staying_ in Miami. Can't be burned again. But I can offer some angles, if it would help. And of course, there's the other reason."

"What?"

"I owe you."

Eliot shook his head. "Hey, I was just doing my job back then."

"If you say so. By the way, it's a '73." Michael nodded towards the Charger. "What do you say?"

Eliot offered his hand for Michael to shake. "Let's do it."

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><p>Chapter 3 coming soon<p> 


End file.
